OCR Text

New Mexican (Newspaper) - February 19, 2005, Santa Fe, New Mexico
THE SANTA FE Locally owned and independent Serving New Mexico for 156 years SATURDAY FEBRUARY 19 2005 FIFTY CENTS INSIDE TODAY Sober as a judge The episodes of Judge Kirby Benedict in the early days of the New Mexico Territory call into question an ageold expression sober as a Historian Marc Simmons relays tales of the heavydrinking New Mexico Supreme Court justice Santa Fe El Norte Bl Ifokos exkeepers sue over fetish firing Two former caretakers of Koko the gorilla filed a lawsuit alleging they were pressured by Kokos trainer to expose their breasts According to the lawsuit the trainer wanted the workers to indulge beasts nipple fetish or be fired Page A2 Exorcism 101 The Roman Catholic Church is facing a shortage that you might not have heard about qualified exorcists A course at Romes Regina Apostolorum is a first time Vaticansanctioned study of exorcism and how to distinguish and fight true demonic possession Nation World Dl New look pays off for Horsemen The bleachedblond boys of St Michaels swim team advance to todays finals in the slate swimming tournament Sports Page Cl Todays obituaries M Clifford Romero 49 Vadito Feb 17 Patricia Gallegos 66 Albuquerque Feb 14 Maria C Velarde 89 Santa Fe Feb 17 Teresita Sanchez Santa Fe Feb 16 Anthony Segura 56 Alahambra Calif Please see Page B2 Todays forecast Cloudy windy scattered showers High 49 low 33 Page B2 INDEX Annies Maiox i3usinoss Gars K Trucks Classifieds Comics Crossword Horoscope Local C9 El E2 D6 D5 D5 B2 Movies B2 Muluals C9 Opinion A9 Religion D3 Scoreboard C2 Sports Cl Stocks C10 Five sections 44 pages TV Book 56 pages 156th year Issue No 50 Publication No 596440 Late paper Classified ads News tips Main office 9840363 9863000 9863035 9833303 County probes inmates death mJ JL Chris Roybal Officials suspect heroin might have been involved in jail inmates death By JULIE ANN GRIMM The New Mexican An inmate died in bed at the Santa Fe County jail early Fri day and authorities are working to determine whether heroin was a factor in his death Several other inmates from the open dormitory where Chris Roy bal died told investigators from the county Sheriffs Department that the 37yearold Santa Fe man had used heroin earlier in the day said Maj Ron Madrid We dont know if that is in fact what Madrid said Friday afternoon A state ment from the sheriffs depart ment said a full autopsy is sched uled for this morning Results of a subsequent search for drug contraband in the jails D Pod were unavailable Friday night Roybal who was jailed on a probation violation from a felony shoplifting charge had been at the 3 State Corrections Department Spokes woman Tia Bland said the depart ment issued the violation notice in Octpber because Roybal had tested positive for cocaine and had failed to keep in touch with his probation internal correctionsdepartment report shows no other criminal record although Roybal had a history of drug abuse Bland said Jail guards discovered Roybal was dead after another inmate alerted them just before 3 that Roybal usually snored loudly and had been too quiet Attempts to revive the man failed jail offi cials said More than 30 other inmates were housed in he area at the time of the death However there were no outward signs of trauma on Roybals body accord ing to the sheriffs department Roybal is the first person to die at the jail this year Dickie M Ortega 32 of Chimayo died at St Vincent Hospital in June after sufferinga beating from other inmates at the jail In November a 57yearold woman with a head injury who had been detained for protective custody died in an Albuquerque hospital after being transferred from the jail Bishop seeks unity In contentious time in Episcopal Church history new bishop has respect of both liberals and conservatives Raul tho New Mexican Jeffrey Steenson bishopelect of the Rto Grande Diocese of the Episcopal Church became the churchs bishop during a historic ceremony Jan 15 By JIM GORDON The New Mexican Jeffrey Steenson is a man in the middle Steenson in late July replaces the retir ing Terrence Kelsaw as bishop of the Rio Grande diocese of the Episcopal Church at a time of tension Steenson is to the right of those pushing for the ordination of openly gay clergy and samesex marriages or the official blessing of samesex relationships Hes to the left of those talking about splitting from the Ameri can church because of its liberal drift and the ordination of Gene Robinson an openly gay man as bishop of New Hampshire I think the Windsor report has basically challenged us to Steenson said in a recent inter view referring to the October report of a commission appointed by the archbishop of Canterbury after Robinsons ordination caused a row within the church The conservatives and tradi tional people need to stay within their churches and work for change rather than pull out so thats where 1 am I dont think God needs another Protestant denomination in the world and I was afraid that there were some people arguing precisely for that and I wont be on that The Windsor report gave both sides in the dispute something to be happy and unhappy about It rebuked the Episcopal Church for Robinsons ordina tion and for blessing samesex Please see BISHOP Page A6 Hie Episcopal Church Anglican Communion The Worldwide Anglican Communion is the fifthlargest Christian denomination in the world with 73 million members With million members the Episcopal Church is a smallbutinfluential part of the communion The Rio Grande one of 117 dioceses in the Episcopal Church has members Although the Episcopal Church subscribes to the Nicene and Apostles creeds consid ers the Bible to be divinely inspired and holds the Eucharist to be the central act of Christian worship it grants great latitude in interpretation of doctrine Each Anglican church belongs to the Angli can Communion because it is in communion with the archbishop of Canterbury and seeks to uphold the catholic faith and reformed order inherited from the Church of England which broke away from Roman Catholicism in the 16th century Yet each church is independent The arch bishop has no legal authority outside the Diocese of Canterbury He serves as spiri tual leader and symbol of unity Source Anglicansonline Mexico opens door to modified foods By MORGAN LEE The Associated Press MEXICO CITY Mexico is opening the door to genetically modified food with President Vicente Fox to sign a bill that would provide a regulatory framework for genealtered crops and require manufactur ers to label food containing them a presidential spokesman told The Associated Press on Friday The measure has been praised by some Mexican agriculture groups who feel they have been cut off from new technol ogy and cant compete with the United States and Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement Genetically modified food is used widely in the United States but has been criticized in Europe and the developing world as unsafe Mexican activists and a hand ful of senators have said the new Mexican regulations would open the door to genetically modified organisms without proper safe guards and guarantees While the bill does not grant immediate approval for any crop it sets out the framework for approving such planting in the future While modified corn kernels imported as food have been planted by farmers in Mexico causing what some experts have described as genetic contami nation of local corn varieties genealtered crops have rarely been grown here The potential for an invasion of genealtered corn has been of particular concern in Mexico which has scores of species of maize bred over thousands of years On Tuesday despite protests held outside Congress the Mexican Senate approved the system for evaluating the safety of genetically modified organ Please see FOODS Page A8 Bill would ax states cougar protections By DEBORAH BAKER Associated Press Writer When snow finally fell recently on the Bell Ranch in northeastern New Mexico Bert Ancell went looking for a cougar He found the big cats tracks let the dogs out then followed them perhaps five miles until they lost the scent up a canyon They thought they had him treed but they could never find recalled Ancell the cattle ranchs assistant manager Cou gars are one of the most elusive predators and the hardesttohunt predators on the If Ancell has his way cou gars also known as moun tain lions could be shot on sight by New Mexicans who happen to encounter them A proposal pending in the state Legislature would do away with the cougars 34yearold protection as a biggame animal whose hunting is regulated Supporters say that would help boost the flagging The Associated Press file photo New Mexico Department of Game and Fish A bffl pending in the state Legisla ture would eliminate the cougars protection as a biggame animal whose hunting is regulated Panel Despite heart risks dont pull pain drugs off the market By RANDOLPH E SCHMID The Associated Press Please see COUGAR Page A8 More legislative news Page A7 WASHINGTON Mil lions of people who depend on the popular painkillers Celebrex Bextra and Vioxx should be allowed to keep using them despite risks of heart problems and strokes government advisers said Friday concluding that ben efits to suffering patients outweigh the dangers The advisers concluded that Vioxx which its maker Merck pulled off the market last fall poses the greatest risk and that Cele brex has the fewest side effects They suggested the pre scription products carry strong warnings and recom mended a longterm study to gain more understanding about the drugs While the Food and Drug Administration isnt Please see DRUGS Page A3
;